MODULE 7 - International Budget Partnership · m onitoring b udget i mplementation facilitator’s manual 186 module 7 using secondary information to monitor budget implementation

M O N I T O R I N G B U D G E T I M P L E M E N T A T I O N

Facilitator’s Manual

185

MODULE 7

USING

SECONDARY INFORMATION

TO MONITOR BUDGET

IMPLEMENTATION



186

MODULE 7 USING SECONDARY INFORMATION TO

MONITOR BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION

LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THIS MODULE

By the end of this module, participants will have:

recognized why and how organizations analyze secondary budget information to support their

advocacy interventions;

defined some key terms and phrases relevant to budget documents and budget monitoring;

identified and read different kinds of secondary budget information;

explained the types of activities that can be undertaken to monitor budget implementation

using secondary information;

described the different phases of the budget oversight process;

outlined the roles of oversight bodies in monitoring budget implementation; and

used audit reports, legislative committee reports, and the reports of ministries/departments/

agencies (MDAs) to evaluate the performance of MDAs/service providers.

STRUCTURE OF THE MODULE

Session 15: How do CSOs use secondary information for monitoring?

1. Task 7.1 Experiences of monitoring budget implementation 25 minutes

2. Plenary discussion: Different ways of using secondary information 20 minutes

3. Task 7.2: Definitions game 60 minutes Session 16: A closer look at budget oversight

4. Facilitator input: The oversight process 20 minutes

5. Task 7.3: Reporting and oversight roles in Polarus 40 minutes

6. Individual Reading 7.1: HMHC & the Department of Health 10 minutes

7. Plenary work session - Task 7.4: What do the figures say? 35 minutes

Session 17: Investigating departmental performance

8. Task 7.5: Analyzing the Department of Health’s Annual Report 30 minutes

9. Plenary discussion: What are the discrepancies? 15 minutes

10. Task 7.6: What does the 2008 Audit Report reveal? 45 minutes

11. Plenary discussion: Which explanation is supported by this evidence? 15 minutes



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Session 18: Investigating departmental performance (continued)

12: Task 7.7: What does the Legislative Committee Report reveal? 30 minutes

13. Gallery walk: What explanation is supported by this evidence? 15 minutes

14. Role Play: How can we use this information for advocacy? 60 minutes

RESOURCES NEEDED FOR MODULE 7

Flipchart paper and markers

Definitions Cards: 1 full set of 20 terms and 20 definitions for each group (printed and cut out)

Three flipchart stands

Post-it notes or cards and adhesive

Mock or real microphone for the role play



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SESSION 15

HOW DO CSOs USE SECONDARY INFORMATION FOR MONITORING? Duration of session: 1 hour and 45 minutes

1. TASK 7.1: EXPERIENCES OF MONITORING BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION

25 MINUTES

Aim: for participants to draw from their own budget work experience to consider how they have

used secondary information in the past, while also allowing them to exchange information and

insights with other participants.

Introduce this module by clarifying, if necessary, what is meant by ‘secondary information’ in the

context of this workshop. Clarify that secondary information includes a wide range of documents

generated by government or other role-players, which have a bearing on the implementation of

government programs or policies, and which present, amalgamate and/or comment on primary

budget information. Some examples of secondary information in this context are budget reports,

audit reports, portfolio committee reports, annual reports of departments, research papers

conducted by academics, evaluations undertaken by donor organizations, and so forth.

Explain that during the course of Module 7, participants will practice using some kinds of

secondary information in Polarus to further tackle the problem of maternal mortality in Sunrise

State. But before they set off for Polarus again, this first exercise invites them to briefly take

stock of and share what they already know about the secondary information terrain.

Ask participants to gather together with two or three others they have not had much opportunity

to work with yet during the workshop.

In these small buzz groups, ask them to share their stories and experiences of using secondary

information. More specifically, what experiences do they have in:

Accessing and using information from government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Using information from and engaging with Legislative Committees who are tasked

with oversight of departments or sectors they are or were monitoring.

Using information from and engaging with Supreme Audit Institutions.

Using any other examples of secondary information for monitoring budget implementation.

STRUCTURE OF THE SESSION 1. Task 7.1 Experiences of monitoring budget implementation 25 minutes

2. Plenary discussion: Different ways of using secondary information 20 minutes

3. Task 7.2: Definitions game 60 minutes



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Refer participants to TASK SHEET 7.1 in their Workbooks. Besides the questions above, the

task sheet also asks them to discuss how they overcame challenges encountered in accessing or

using secondary information for monitoring.

After approximately 20 minutes, call the participants back to the plenary gathering.

2. PLENARY DISCUSSION: DIFFERENT WAYS OF USING SECONDARY INFORMATION

20 MINUTES

Invite two or three participants to share their experiences of using secondary information.

Ensure you consider and discuss each of the role-players referred to in Task 7.1.

Draw attention to any interesting patterns emerging from the discussion. For example, note if

organizations have focused more attention on information from government departments in the

past, and have given less or no attention to legislative and/or audit reports.

Briefly explore when and why different kinds of secondary information may be more relevant

and useful in different contexts.

Pose the following question for discussion in plenary: How can the impact of budget advocacy

work be strengthened by using more and/or varied sources of secondary information?

Explain that there is not enough time in this module to explore all the various kinds of secondary

budget information in depth. As a result, the bulk of this module will focus mostly on secondary

information generated by oversight institutions, namely the legislatures and auditor-general.

In preparation for this, the next exercise introduces the participants to some key terms and

definitions they will need and use during the rest of the module.

3. TASK 7.2: DEFINITIONS GAME 60 MINUTES

Aim: For participants to get to know some key terms used in budget monitoring and oversight.

Ask the participants to play this game in their Polarus CSO groups.

Give each group a set of Budget Monitoring Definitions Cards. There should be two colors of

printed cards for each group: 20 cards with key terms printed on them (in one color), and 20

cards with definitions (in another color).

Explain that the groups have around 30 minutes to match all the key terms with their definitions.

When a group believes it has completed the matching exercise correctly, they should all stand on

their chairs and shout “Hakuna Matata!”

The facilitator will then check their combinations, and if they are correct, they will be announced

champions of the MBI definitions game, and win prizes as well. If they are not correct, they will

be disqualified and the game will continue for the other groups.



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If no teams have shouted Hakuna Matata! after 45 minutes, call a halt to the game and discuss

the correct answers in plenary. Give prizes to the team that had the most correct matches. In

fact, all the teams get something!

Participants can record the correct matches in their Workbooks, on TASK SHEET 7.2:

BUDGET MONITORING DEFINITIONS.

ANSWERS TO TASK 7.2

Accrual accounting

A form of accounting that records fund flows at the time economic value is created, transformed, exchanged, transferred or extinguished.

Appropriation An authority granted under a law by the legislature to the executive to spend public funds, up to a set limit, for a specific purpose.

Audit opinion It is given by an auditor at the end of an audit investigation.

Budget execution process

This begins once the legislature has enacted the budget law, and mandates the executive to collect revenue and spend public funds according to the allocations contained in that law.

Cash accounting A form of accounting that records only cash payments/receipts and records them at the time they occur.

Disclaimer of audit opinion

It is issued by the auditor when s/he is unable to arrive at an opinion regarding the financial statements taken as a whole, due to fundamental uncertainty.

Economic classification

The categorization of expenditures (or expenses) and financial assets into categories which emphasize the economic nature of the transactions involved – for example: salaries, interest, transfers.

Emphasis of matter

A separate paragraph of an audit opinion in which the auditor points out unusual or important matters that are necessary to a proper understanding of the financial statements.

Financial management

The legal and administrative systems and procedures put in place to permit government ministries and agencies to conduct their activities so that the use of public funds meets defined standards of probity, regularity, efficiency and effectiveness.

Financial statements

These are prepared by a reporting entity to communicate information about its financial performance and position.

Functional classifications

The categorization of expenditures (or expenses) and financial assets according to the purpose for which the transactions are undertaken.

Gross domestic product

An aggregate measure of production, equal to the sum of the gross values added of all residents engaged in production (plus any taxes, and minus any subsidies on products not included in the value of the outputs).

Performance measurement

Assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of a program or the activities of an organization through an examination of the relevant inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes.



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Procurement The process whereby a government buys something, including the identification of what is needed, determining who should supply the need, and ensuring delivery of what has been bought.

Public Accounts Committee

A group of representatives within a legislature which is formally mandated to scrutinize and oversee the financial management of public resources.

Qualified audit opinion

This is given when an auditor disagrees with or is uncertain about one or more items in the financial statements that are material but not fundamental to an understanding of the statements.

Unauthorized expenditure

Money that was spent for purposes other than for which it was allocated, or expenditure in excess of what was allocated.

Unqualified audit opinion

This is given when an auditor is satisfied in all material respects that the financial statements have been prepared using acceptable accounting practices, and that they comply with statutory requirements and disclose all relevant material matters.

Virement The process of transferring an expenditure provision from one line-item to another during the budget year.

Warrant A release of all or (more commonly) a part of the total annual appropriation on a quarterly or monthly basis that allows a line ministry or spending agency to make commitments.



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SESSION 16

A CLOSER LOOK AT BUDGET OVERSIGHT Duration of session: 1 hour and 45 minutes

4. FACILITATOR INPUT: THE OVERSIGHT PROCESS 20 MINUTES

Use the PowerPoint file MODULE 7 Secondary Information to give participants an

overview of the oversight process, as well as the various models of Supreme Audit

Institutions.

Field questions of clarification, and explain that Polarus follows the Westminster model of

audit institutions.

5. TASK 7.3: REPORTING & OVERSIGHT ROLES IN POLARUS 40 MINUTES

Aim: participants have a chance to apply what they just learnt about the oversight process to the Polarus context. This also serves as a foundation for the exercises to follow in this Module.

Ask participants to familiarize themselves with the following information in their Polarus Sourcebooks:

The section called ‘Legislation governing oversight in Polarus’ in Chapter 2 (page 15).

The extracts from the Public Finance Management Act in Chapter 5 (page 30)

The regulations regarding financial reporting in Polarus (page 35).

After reading the relevant materials, participants should gather in their Polarus CSO groups and

complete the questions on Task Sheet 7.3: Reporting and Oversight Roles in Polarus in

their Workbooks.

After 20 minutes, circulate to all the groups and ask each group to write up one of the

following roles and responsibilities on a sheet of flipchart paper:

Group A: In Polarus, the Sunrise State Department of Health has the following

responsibilities when it comes to reporting...

STRUCTURE OF THE SESSION 4. Facilitator input: The oversight process 20 minutes

5. Task 7.3: Reporting and oversight roles in Polarus 40 minutes

6. Individual Reading 7.1: HMHC & the Department of Health 10 minutes

7. Plenary work session - Task 7.4: What do the figures say? 35 minutes



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Group B: In Polarus, the Legislatures and their Committees must exercise oversight over the

Sunrise State Department of Health by...

Group C: In Polarus, the Office of the Auditor-General must exercise oversight over the

Sunrise State Department of Health by...

Group D: When monitoring a government department, oversight institutions should be

on the look-out for...

Ask the groups to display their completed sheets of flipchart paper on the training room walls.

Facilitate a ‘gallery walk’ report-back: Invite all the participants to circulate and read what

the other groups have written up.

If necessary, correct any inaccuracies or misunderstandings in what the groups have written

up, and add any important points that may have been omitted.

Explain to participants that the information they have just written up represents the legal

framework or context within which they are working in Polarus. They should keep these roles

on responsibilities in mind as they now proceed with the challenge of addressing the maternal

mortality situation in Sunrise State.

6. INDIVIDUAL READING 7.1: HMHC & THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

10 MINUTES

Ask participants to spend a few minutes reading carefully through the next installment in their

HMHC case study. It appears as READING 7.1 in their Participants’ Workbooks.

While participants and reading, set out three flipchart stands in the training room. Display one of

the three ‘explanations’ given in the Reading on each of the stands.

Before proceeding to the next exercise, ask the participants which of the three explanations about

the budget implementation problems of the health department in Sunrise State they think is most

convincing. Ask them to give a show of hands for each one, or alternatively, ask them to go and

stand in front of the flipchart stand that displays the explanation they most support.

Give one or two people a chance to motivate why they have chosen one explanation above

another, but do not let the debate continue for more than a minute or two.

Point out that at this stage, the participants can only really have hunches about the budget

implementation problems in Sunrise State health department. The rest of this Module will be all

about gathering evidence to shed light on which problems are most severely contributing to the

high maternal mortality rate in Sunrise State – and more importantly, to begin uncovering what

has to be addressed in order to solve these problems.

Also note that there may be more than one explanation for the maternal health problems in



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Sunrise State. It could be that all three of the theories on the flipchart stands are true, and that

there are even more additional factors contributing to the situation. The only way to find out is

to gather and analyze more information.

7. PLENARY WORK SESSION – TASK 7.4: WHAT DO THE FIGURES SAY? 35 MINUTES

Aim: to illustrate to participants how budget figures can be used to investigate a development

problem further, and establish the meaning of “underspending” and why it is problematic. A

secondary aim is to acknowledge the broad range of enquiry that could be conducted using

expenditure data in secondary documents, and to clarify what will be covered (and not covered)

in this workshop.

Ask the participants to think back to the role-play they did in Module 2, when they interviewed

the various government officials about the maternal mortality situation in Sunrise State. Remind

them that they were left with a number of possible budgetary causes contributing to the

development problem of poor maternal health care.

Invite one or two participants to re-state some of the budgetary causes that emerged during the

Module 2 role play (or refer back to the flipchart paper where these were written down). For ease

of reference, these could have included any or all of the following (amongst others):

The Sunrise State Department of Health does not have enough funds to deliver adequate

maternal health services;

The Sunrise State District Health Services program is under-spending or wasting money.

Too little is being spent on training skilled birth attendants and/or on allocations to

salaries for skilled birth attendants at primary health clinics.

There is corruption in the procurement of goods and services by the DHS program.

The performance of contractors responsible for supplying obstetric medicines and

equipment is not being monitored and managed effectively by the Sunrise State

Department of Health.

Note that from READING 7.1, the participants now have some additional information (or

opinions) about how the problem of poor maternal health services is manifesting in practice in the

implementation of service delivery. The challenge now is to begin making sense of how these

practical problems being experienced at the service delivery point can be tracked back to one or

more specific budgetary causes.



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Knowing which budgetary causes are contributing to poor service delivery is essential for

effective budget advocacy. Without understanding the causes, you cannot motivate for an

effective solution, and a desired course of action.

Against this background, ask participants to turn to Task Sheet 7.4: What do the figures say? in

their Workbooks. Explain that this will be a plenary work session.

Participants will also need to look at the State Spending Data and Health Budget Data in

Sections 8 & 9 of their Polarus Sourcebooks (pages 60 – 70). Alternatively, they could

access these figures on their laptops in the Polarus Master Data 2010 (Tabs 7, 21, 22 &

24).

Draw the link back to TASK 7.3, where participants learnt that all government departments,

including the Department of Health in Sunrise State, is obligated to report on how it spends its

funds. So a useful step in any budget advocacy project is to go and see what the available budget

figures say about the department or program you are monitoring.

Lead the participants through the questions one by one in plenary. In each case, give them a

chance to respond and invite individuals to volunteer answers, before correcting or discussing

them as you proceed. Model answers are provided below.

After completing this exercise in plenary, point out to participants that there are literally dozens

of exciting calculations one can do using budget figures such as these. This is what participants

learn to do when they attend the IBP’s General Intermediate Training workshop.

Undertaking extensive budget analysis is therefore one way of using secondary information to

gather insight into the budget implementation process. In this module of the workshop, the

focus will not fall on doing further calculations, although participants should feel free to use the

budget data provided to support their advocacy group work as they see fit.

Instead, the investigation in this module will now compare what the Sunrise State Department of

Health was reporting for 2008, with what the Oversight institutions found when they scrutinized

the department’s expenditure for the same year.

ANSWERS TO TASK 7.4

1. The State Spending tables on pages 60 to 62 of the Polarus Sourcebook:

a) What years do they cover? 2005 and 2008

b) Why are there two tables for 2005?

One gives budgeted figures and the other gives actual audited figures.



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c) What is the difference between the two sets of figures for 2005?

The budgeted figures are what the government was planning to spend. The actual audited figures reflect what funds were actually spent.

2. The correct figures for:

a) How much did Sunrise State budget for health in 2005? 1,811,000,000 Dinar

b) How much did Sunrise State spend on health in 2005? 1,766,000,000 Dinar

c) How much did Sunrise State budget for health in 2008? 4,027,000,000 Dinar

Make sure all the participants have the right number of zeros. 3. The Maternal Health-related expenditures on pages 63 and 64: Note these figures are based on

research commissioned by NGOs in Sunrise State. Why do you think it would have been necessary

to commission such research?

It is often difficult to track a specific development problem or target group through

government budgets. This is the case when it comes to maternal health in Polarus.

There is no separate maternal health program in the larger health budget. Instead,

spending on women who are receiving maternal health care is spread across several

programs and budgets. So unless a government department collects the disaggregated

data you need, it will take some dedicated research to try and establish exactly which

expenditures ended up being spent on the issue you are monitoring. Even then, it is not

always possible to extract the figures you need. Therefore the need to advocate for

specific categories of disaggregated data is often an essential component of effective

longer-term budget work.

4. The Maternal Health-related expenditures in Sunrise State on page 64:

a) The total amount budgeted for maternal health-related services in 2005?

94,789,000 Dinar

b) The total amount actually spent on maternal health-related services in 2005?

73,309,000 Dinar

Ensure that all participants have the right number of zeros.

c) If you compare these two figures, what do you notice?

There is a big discrepancy between the amount budgeted and the amount actually

spent. This is called underspending, and when you undertake more in-depth

budget analysis, it is often expressed as a percentage.

d) Is this a problem? If so, why?

Underspending is a serious budget problem. When you notice extensive or



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repeated underspending on a given program or service, it often points to a lack of

capacity, on the part of the implementing agency or responsible department, to

operationalize projects and services. This may be due to poor management, a

shortage of skills or other human resources, poor coordination with other

programs, or other systemic problems that make it difficult to implement projects

or deliver services. Underspending can also indicate poor planning, for example if

a department overestimated the need for a service, or based its budget projections

on poor data or faulty assumptions.

5. Look at the health budgets on pages 65 to 67. Can you tell from these whether Sunrise State is

spending enough on health? Explain your answer.

It is impossible to tell from these budgets alone whether Sunrise State is spending

enough on health. “Enough” is a relative term. You need to ask: Is Sunrise State

spending enough on health relative to other states, or relative to the need for health

services in Sunrise State, or relative to accepted international standards. Answering these

questions would need further analysis and information. For example, if you knew how

many people there are in each state, you could compare per capita spending on health

and draw some conclusions.



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SESSION 17

INVESTIGATING DEPARTMENTAL PERFORMANCE Duration of session: 1 hour and 45 minutes

8. TASK 7.5: ANALYZING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH’S ANNUAL REPORT

30 MINUTES

Aim: for participants to practice extracting relevant information from government documents,

and analyze what it reveals about a particular development problem.

Ask participants to work in their Polarus CSO groups. They should begin by reading the extract

from the 2008 Annual Report of the Sunrise State Department of Health. This appears in Section

10 of the Polarus Sourcebook (page 75).

The questions to discuss in this group exercise are set out on Task Sheet 7.5: Analyzing the

Department of Health Annual Report in the Participants’ Workbooks.

After 25 to 30 minutes, ask the participants to reconvene together in the training room.

9. PLENARY DISCUSSION: WHAT ARE THE DISCREPANCIES? 15 MINUTES

Facilitate an informal report-back on the three questions raised in Task Sheet 7.5.

Focus attention especially on the third question.

The main points which should emerge from the discussion:

The department’s apparent commitment to improving maternal health care through the

initiation of the ‘Saving Mothers, Saving Babies’ project may provide an important leverage

point for budget advocacy.

The explanations given for under-spending in the District Health Services and Emergency

Medical Services programs are very vague. These should be key issues to follow up on.

The issue of staff shortages and questions around the qualification requirements for birth

assistants is critical. This is a decision-making and recruitment process which the CSOs could

try to influence through their advocacy.

STRUCTURE OF THE SESSION 8. Task 7.5: Analyzing the Department of Health’s Annual Report 30 minutes

9. Plenary discussion: What are the discrepancies? 15 minutes

10. Task 7.6: What does the 2008 Audit Report reveal? 45 minutes

11. Plenary discussion: Which explanation is supported by this evidence? 15 minutes



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The stated ‘turnaround’ in Emergency Medical Services is at odds with other accounts of

access to emergency care. The informant introduced to the group by the Polarus Times

journalist, as well as the maternal health statistics in the Polarus Sourcebook bear out the fact

that too few maternal health cases are successfully referred for emergency care in Sunrise

State. This may be the single most significant factor contributing to the high maternal

mortality rate.

10. TASK 7.6: WHAT DOES THE 2008 AUDIT REPORT REVEAL? 45 MINUTES

Aim: to give participants an opportunity to extract relevant information from an audit report

and consider what it reveals about a particular development problem.

For this exercise, participants again work in their Polarus CSO groups. Invite them to read the

Audit Report prepared by the Auditor-General’s Office of Polarus and submitted to the Sunrise

State legislature regarding the 2008 financial statements of the Sunrise State Department of

Health. This appears in Section 10 of the Polarus Sourcebook (page 84).

The questions to discuss in this group exercise are set out on Task Sheet 7.6: What does the

2008 Audit Report reveal? in the Participants’ Workbooks.

Hand out some large post-it notepads or some plain cards (around 6–8 should be enough) to

each of the groups. Ask them to write their responses to Question 3 on the cards. Each card

should have a different point. So for example, if a group can see a connection between the

problem of poor data records concerning staff qualification and leave (as highlighted in the Audit

Report) and the reports of birth assistants not being adequately skilled or on duty, this represents

one point and should be written on its own card.

After 40 minutes, ask the participants to reconvene together in the training room.

11. PLENARY DISCUSSION: WHICH EXPLANATION IS SUPPORTED BY THE

EVIDENCE? 15 MINUTES

Facilitate a report-back on Task 7.6, focusing especially on the connections made by the groups

in Question 3. As facilitator, your primary aim during this report-back is to check that

participants are able to see the links between the budgetary and management problems

highlighted in the audit report, and how these could be manifesting in practical ways during

service delivery.



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Make sure everyone can see the three flipchart stands with the three explanations for the

maternal mortality crisis in Sunrise State, as given by the three mock characters in Reading 7.1.

Ask the participants to consider whether any of the points they wrote up on the cards in

response to Question 3 of Task 7.6 could be used as evidence to support any of the arguments

presented on the three flipchart stands.

Invite the participants to come up and attach any of their cards to support any of the

explanations. This can be done by sticking the relevant post-it note or card up on the flipchart

sheet/stand displaying the explanation they think it supports.

Briefly discuss and review their findings, confirming where the participants have drawn strong

and reasonable connections.

Note that when CSOs (in the “real world”) undertake budget monitoring, they often repeat many

cycles of gathering information, scrutinizing that information and considering how it can be used

as evidence to support an argument. The more secondary documents you consult, the more

layers or pieces of supporting evidence can be added to your advocacy message. You may not

end up using every bit of information with every audience, but having a fuller picture of the

problem strengthens your ability to diagnose and recommend a solution that can really have the

desired impact.



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SESSION 18

INVESTIGATING DEPARTMENTAL PERFORMANCE (CONTINUED) Duration of session: 1 hour and 45 minutes

12. TASK 7.7: WHAT DOES THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT REVEAL? 30 MINUTES

Aim: For participants to follow the oversight process further by studying a legislative committee

report, as another example of a secondary information source that can be used for budget

advocacy around a particular development problem.

Ask the participants to read the Resolutions & Recommendations of the Sunrise State Portfolio

Committee on Health, Oversight Report 2008. It appears in Section 10 of the Polarus

Sourcebook (page 88).

This exercise is again a group task, to be conducted in their Polarus CSO groups. The questions

to be addressed are similar to the previous exercise, and appear in the Participant’s Workbooks

on Task Sheet 7.7: What Does the Legislative Committee Report Reveal?

Again make sure that all the groups have post-it notes or cards to write up their responses to

Question 3.

After 15 minutes of discussion time, circulate amongst the groups to make sure they have begun

writing up their points onto cards.

13. GALLERY WALK: WHAT EXPLANATION IS SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE? 15 MINUTES

When the groups have completed their discussions of the Legislative Committee Report, invite

them to add any additional cards or post-its emerging from Task 7.7 to any of the explanations

on the three flipchart stands.

Ask all the participants to circulate and revisit the three explanations at their own pace, and take

stock of all the information they have now clustered under the different arguments or issues.

This can be a reflective time for participants to think through their findings or you could use this

STRUCTURE OF THE SESSION 12: Task 7.7: What does the Legislative Committee Report reveal? 30 minutes

13. Gallery walk: What explanation is supported by this evidence? 15 minutes

14. Role Play: How can we use this information for advocacy? 60 minutes



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time as facilitator to consolidate the main points emerging from the group discussions.

(However, the following role play will provide you with an opportunity to see how well the

participants have understood and internalized the last two learning objectives of this module).

14. ROLE PLAY: HOWE CAN WE USE THIS INFORMATION FOR ADVOCACY? 60 MINUTES

Aim: to use the information gleaned from secondary documents about a government

department to build an argument concerning service delivery and back it up with evidence.

Ask the participants to imagine that they are back in Polarus, and that the Sunrise State Portfolio

Committee on Health is holding public hearings. As member organizations of the Healthy

Mothers, Healthy Children coalition, the participants’ CSO groups all have the opportunity to

make an oral submission to the Committee about the maternal health situation in Sunrise State.

Invite the groups to take 15 minutes to prepare what they will say to the Portfolio Committee.

They will have a maximum of 7 minutes per group to make their submissions. The groups

should:

Choose one critical problem contributing to poor maternal health care to focus on rather

than trying to cover all the various aspects.

Make use of the evidence gathered from secondary information sources in this Module to

back up their argument.

Explain the problem, recommend a solution, and propose what action they would like the

Committee to take.

After 15 minutes preparation time, urge the groups to gather together. Ask the facilitation team

or one or two of the groups to play the role of the Portfolio Committee members, while each of

the Polarus CSO groups has a chance to make their oral submission.

Be strict about keeping the submissions to no more than 7 minutes per group. In this role play,

the emphasis is not on providing a comprehensive analysis of the issue and its budgetary causes.

The aim is rather to encourage the participants to think strategically about how they can use the

information they have gathered for advocacy. They should show that they understand the role

of the Legislative Committee as an oversight body, and not an implementing agency.

When all the groups have made their submissions, provide an opportunity for constructive

feedback. Draw attention to examples of how they chose their information strategically and used



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evidence effectively for advocacy to this particular target group. Give suggestions on how

participants could improve at:

diagnosing the budget causes contributing to a development problem;

identifying appropriate solutions; and

defining a desired course of action that the target audience could take.

At the end of the Module, participants spend 30 minutes working on their budget advocacy

projects in their own country contexts.



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TASK SHEET 7.1: EXPERIENCES OF MONITORING BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION In buzz groups, discuss the following questions: 1. What experiences have you had of accessing and using secondary information from:

Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies?

Legislative Committees who are tasked with oversight of the departments or sectors that you are focusing on?

The Supreme Audit Institution in your country?

2. How have you used secondary information from these role players to support your budget advocacy work?

3. What challenges have you faced in accessing or using secondary information, and how did you overcomes these challenges?

NOTES



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TASK SHEET 7.2: BUDGET MONITORING DEFINITIONS

Choose one of the terms in the box below to match each of the definitions in the table.

Functional classification Disclaimer of audit opinion Appropriation

Gross domestic product Audit opinion Public Accounts Committee

Budget execution process Cash accounting Economic classification Warrant

Procurement Financial statements Performance measurement Virement

Qualified audit opinion Emphasis of matter Accrual accounting

Unauthorized expenditure Unqualified audit opinion

Financial management

Definition Key Term

This is given when an auditor disagrees with or is uncertain about one or

more items in the financial statements that are material but not fundamental

to an understanding of the statements.

An authority granted under a law by the legislature to the executive to spend

public funds, up to a set limit, for a specific purpose.

It is given by an auditor at the end of an audit investigation.

A form of accounting that records only cash payments/receipts and records

them at the time they occur.

The process of transferring an expenditure provision from one line-item to

another during the budget year.

It is issued by the auditor when s/he is unable to arrive at an opinion

regarding the financial statements taken as a whole, due to fundamental

uncertainty.

A form of accounting that records fund flows at the time economic value is

created, transformed, exchanged, transferred or extinguished.

A separate paragraph of an audit opinion in which the auditor points out

unusual or important matters that are necessary to a proper understanding

of the financial statements.



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Definition Key Term

An aggregate measure of production, equal to the sum of the gross values

added of all residents engaged in production (plus any taxes, and minus any

subsidies on products not included in the value of the outputs).

These are prepared by a reporting entity to communicate information about

its financial performance and position.

The categorization of expenditures (or expenses) and financial assets

according to the purpose for which the transactions are undertaken.

This begins once the legislature has enacted the budget law, and mandates

the executive to collect revenue and spend public funds according to the

allocations contained in that law.

Assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of a program or the activities of

an organization through an examination of the relevant inputs, processes,

outputs and outcomes.

The process whereby a government buys something, including the

identification of what is needed, determining who should supply the need,

and ensuring delivery of what has been bought.

A group of representatives within a legislature which is formally mandated

to scrutinize and oversee the financial management of public resources.

Money that was spent for purposes other than for which it was allocated, or

expenditure in excess of what was allocated.

This is given when an auditor is satisfied in all material respects that the

financial statements have been prepared using acceptable accounting

practices, and that they comply with statutory requirements and disclose all

relevant material matters.

The legal and administrative systems and procedures put in place to permit

government ministries and agencies to conduct their activities so that the

use of public funds meets defined standards of probity, regularity, efficiency

and effectiveness.

The categorization of expenditures (or expenses) and financial assets into

categories which emphasize the economic nature of the transactions

involved – for example: salaries, interest, transfers.



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Definition Key Term

A release of all or (more commonly) a part of the total annual appropriation

on a quarterly or monthly basis that allows a line ministry or spending agency

to make commitments.



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TASK SHEET 7.3: OVERSIGHT ROLES IN POLARUS Read the following sections of the Polarus Sourcebook:

The “Legislation governing oversight in Polarus” in Chapter 2 (page 15).

The extracts from the Public Finance Management Act in Chapter 5 (page 30)

The regulations regarding financial reporting in Polarus (page 35).

a) In Polarus, what responsibilities do Ministries, Departments, and Agencies have in terms

of reporting on their budgets and performance?

b) In Polarus, how are the Legislatures and Legislative Committees required to exercise

oversight over government departments?



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c) In Polarus, what are the responsibilities of the Auditor General with regard to oversight over

government departments?

d) When they oversee the budget implementation of government departments, what should the

oversight institutions be on the look-out for?



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READING 7.1: HMHC & THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children coalition has welcomed your organization into the

network, and expressed excitement that you are willing to undertake some budget monitoring

research to strengthen the campaign in Sunrise State. The secretariat of the Coalition has asked you

to investigate what is happening in the health service delivery process to cause such a high maternal

mortality rate in the city of Mortalia.

To inform your budget monitoring of the Sunrise State health department and its implementation

of maternal health care in Mortalia, you have met with a number of role-players with an interest in

the health sector and asked them what they think is causing the high incidence of maternal mortality.

Your aim has been to gain a broad sense of the obstacles and weaknesses in maternal health service

delivery. So far you have found out the following.

First, you met with a senior researcher at Sunrise State University, who works in the Health

Systems Research Unit (HSRU). This academic organization has undertaken some in-depth research

of the problems experienced at three primary health clinics and two secondary hospitals, and

conducted interviews with various medical experts in the field. The senior researcher summarized

their findings like this:

There simply aren’t enough skilled birth

attendants on duty at primary health clinics to

provide maternal health services. Our research

shows that even those nurses who are present are

not necessarily qualified in obstetric care.

Next, you met with a Member of the Sunrise State Legislature, a veteran MP and one of the

stalwarts of the women’s movement in Polarus. She is a member of the APSP Opposition Party, as

well as the Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Health, and has been known to take a special

interest in maternal care and child health. She gave you the following perspective:



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The problem is clear, my friends. With the

rapid urbanization Mortalia has experienced, we

now have a drastic shortage of clinics in the

city. The governing party has promised to build

more health facilities, but as always they have

let us down. They should explain this to the

women of Sunrise State!

You also managed to set up a meeting with a journalist who works for the Polarus Times, who

has a reputation for investigative reporting on health issues. He agreed to introduce you to one of

his sources, an ex-employee in the state primary health system in Sunrise State. She was willing to

share her experiences with you, on condition of anonymity, and told you this:

It’s the ambulance services: they hardly ever

came when we needed them. Also, many of the

drivers were charging private fees for

transporting patients. I saw families paying bribes

to get a wife or daughter from the clinic to a

hospital in an emergency. They are a

law unto themselves, those ambulance drivers.

* * *

Which of these explanations is true? Who is right about the main service delivery problems

undermining maternal health in Mortalia?

Remember there could be more than one set of factors contributing to the poor implementation

of maternal health care in Sunrise State.

However, in order to advance your budget advocacy, you need specific and accurate information

to back up any claims you make about the problem and desired solution to improve maternal health.



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TASK SHEET 7.4: WHAT DO THE FIGURES SAY? 1. Look at the State Spending tables on pages 60 to 62 of the Polarus Sourcebook.

a) What years do they cover?

b) Why are there two tables for 2005?

c) What is the difference between the two sets of figures for 2005?

2. Write down the following figures:

a) How much did Sunrise State budget for health in 2005?

b) How much did Sunrise State spend on health in 2005?

c) How much did Sunrise State budget for health in 2008?

3. Look at the Maternal Health-related expenditures on pages 63 and 64. Note these figures are based

on research commissioned by NGOs in Sunrise State. Why do you think it would have been

necessary to commission such research?

4. Study the Maternal Health-related expenditures in Sunrise State on page 64. What was:

a) The total amount budgeted for maternal health-related services in 2005?

b) The total amount actually spent on maternal health-related services in 2005?

c) If you compare these two figures, what do you notice?

d) Is this a problem? If so, why?



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TASK SHEET 7.4: WHAT DO THE FIGURES SAY? (CONTINUED) 5. Look at the health budgets on pages 65 to 67. Can you tell from these whether Sunrise State is

spending enough on health? Explain your answer.



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TASK SHEET 7.5: ANALYZING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH’S ANNUAL REPORT Read the extract from the 2008 Annual Report of the Sunrise State Department of

Health. It appears in Section 10 of the Polarus Sourcebook. Then discuss these questions in

your group.

1. What are some of the achievements claimed by the Sunrise State Department of Health for the

2008 financial year?

2. If this Annual Report was your only source of information about the health sector in Sunrise

State, what impression would you have of maternal health care in the state?

3. What information in this Annual Report gives you cause for concern and might be important for

your budget advocacy?



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TASK SHEET 7.6: WHAT DOES THE 2008 AUDIT REPORT REVEAL?

Read the report prepared by the Auditor-General’s Office of Polarus and submitted to the Sunrise

State Legislature regarding the 2008 financial statements of the Sunrise State Department of Health.

It appears in Section 10 of the Polarus Sourcebook. Then discuss the following questions as a group.

1. What problems are raised in the Audit Report?

2. Which of the problems you listed above could be contributing to inadequate maternal health care

in Sunrise State?

3. For each problem highlighted in the audit report that you decide is relevant, explain how it could

be undermining effective service delivery to women in need of maternal health care. Write each

point on a separate card handed out by the facilitator. For your own records you can also capture

your ideas in the space provided on the following page.



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TASK SHEET 7.6: WHAT DOES THE 2008 AUDIT REPORT REVEAL? (CONTINUED) How problems highlighted in the Audit Report could be contributing to poor maternal

health care in Sunrise State:



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TASK SHEET 7.7: WHAT DOES THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT REVEAL?

Read the 2008 Oversight Report of the Sunrise State Portfolio Committee on Health. It appears in

Section 10 of the Polarus Sourcebook. Then discuss the following questions as a group.

1. What problems are raised in the Portfolio Committee’s Oversight Report?

2. Which of the problems you listed above could be contributing to inadequate maternal health care

in Sunrise State?

3. For each problem highlighted in the legislative committee report that you decide is relevant,

explain how it could be undermining effective service delivery to women in need of maternal health

care. Write each point on a separate card. For your own records you can also capture your ideas in

the space provided on the following page.



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TASK SHEET 7.7: WHAT DOES THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT REVEAL? (CONTINUED)

How problems highlighted in the Oversight Report of the Portfolio Committee could

be contributing to poor maternal health care in Sunrise State:

Documents

MODULE 7 - International Budget Partnership · m onitoring b udget i mplementation facilitator’s manual 186 module 7 using secondary information to monitor budget implementation